A “marketing war” has erupted between SA's second and third cellphone operators.
MTN has filed two urgent complaints against Cell C with the Advertising Standards Authority of SA (ASA) regarding what the company says is disparaging of its products. But, says Cell C, this was after MTN had already launched a comeback campaign.
MTN's complaint, dated 6 July, refers to Cell C's “99 Cents For Real” marketing campaign, launched in May. According to MTN, Cell C's television and radio advertisements “make reference to (and make disparaging remarks about)” MTN's Zone product and “Mahala Thursdays” promotion, respectively.
MTN's submission to the ASA states: “MTN requests that the ASA deal with the complaint on an extremely urgent basis.”
MTN refers to Cell C's TV advert, featuring famous South African musician Zakes Bantwini, and its radio advert, featuring a male voice with an American accent. Both adverts, says MTN, constitute a breach by Cell C of the section of the ASA's code that deals with disparagement. In addition to this, MTN accuses Cell C's radio advert in particular of being in breach of Clause 7 of the code, which deals with comparative advertising.
Rival advertisements
Karin Fourie, executive head of communications at Cell C, says MTN's complaints come after the operator had already launched its own radio campaign “disparaging Cell C's 99c For Real adverts”. Despite this, says Fourie, “Cell C will for the time being, ignore the MTN radio campaign”.
MTN's radio adverts feature a character called “Papa” - presumably a reference to Cell C's “Papa's got a brand new pack” campaign. The male voice, that of “Papa”, says “Papa's got a brand new...”, and repeatedly uses the phrase “brand new”. The second male voice says, at the end of the advert: “and stop with the fake American accent”.
In Cell C's adverts, which preceded MTN's latest campaign, the first character in the TV commercial is presumably on MTN's network, its ASA complaint states. In the commercial, he looks at his cellphone and exclaims: “Damn, I'm out of the zone!”
The radio advert MTN is contesting features a male voice that says: “Some people can only make calls from zone one eKasi to zone three for cheaper - only one day of the week? That's not kwa!”
Social media mentions
The reaction on Twitter reveals the radio “audience” - consumers - are amused by what they see as MTN's attempt to parody Cell C's campaign.
One post reads: “You got to love the very cheeky MTN radio parody of Cell C 'papa got a ...' and the fake American accent jibe. ASA Monday morning!”
Another post questions: “Does anyone else think the new MTN radio ad is a crib of Cell C's advert?”
And, reflecting the general reaction on Twitter: “Lmao! Isnt that 'papa's got a new pack' the Cell C ad? Did MTN really pull that thing?” (sic)
MTN confirms that it has filed a complaint with ASA regarding certain Cell C adverts and says: “MTN has been extremely competitive in the market and continues to do so.”
Ryan Gould, GM of brand and communications at MTN SA, says as far at the operator is concerned, “MTN has not criticised its competitor 'products' in its recent advertisement. The MTN Zone Mahala advertisement profiles the product and its benefits.”
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